The present invention relates to cooking appliances, and more particularly to a metal stamping for holding a glass ceramic cooking surface and burner elements.
With the advent of better glass ceramic cooking surfaces, such as that sold under the trademark CERAN.RTM., many appliances such as ranges, cooktops and the like, have incorporated these glass ceramic surfaces for use as the cooking surface. The advantages of the glass ceramic cooktop surfaces are many. A glass ceramic cooktop surface provides an aesthetically pleasing, unitary surface area for cooking. Also, the glass cooktop surface greatly enhances the ease with which the cooktop surface may be cleaned. Furthermore, the glass cooktop surface provides well distributed heat for even cooking. However, because the majority of the glass cooktop surfaces are made of some type of ceramic material, they tend to be more fragile than standard metal cooktop surfaces. For example, when the edge of the glass cooktop is struck by a pan, it could possibly crack or break. Thus, care must be exercised in the holding of the glass cooktop.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,217 relates to a heater or cooker pan or assembly having an enamel frame with an upper edge capped by a decorative edge trim made of alloy steel. The frame has an internal flange on which mounts a glass cooking plate. A layer of silicone adhesive forms a cohesive seal with the frame and the trim so that the ceramic plate is thermally bonded to the unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,477 discloses a gas cooktop with a glass surface and a plurality of burners. Each burner has a neck portion with a flange that seats down on the gasket thereby sealing the burner to the glass top. A collar surrounds the neck portion of each burner. Brackets are positioned below the glass top and support the burners independent of the glass top. A grate covers a pair of burners and has locator rod members that encircle portions of the collar, thereby fixedly locating the grate on the glass top.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,962 discloses to a glass top counter top range mounted on a structure formed by a first box that fits through a hole in the counter top and is supported by a peripheral flange and a second but inverted box significantly smaller than the first, telescopingly received into the first box structure to provide an air space between the two boxes. The glass top is secured to and supported by the second box structure which in turn is supported by the first box structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,505 discloses to a method for forming a glass ceramic cooktop. The method is facilitated by using a heating coil tray secured to a burner box and a wiring harness package for making the electrical connections. The invention does not have an integral trim ring and burner box.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,983 discloses a cooktop having a plurality of heating stations in which a trim ring is riveted to a box that supports heating elements. The heated cooktop does not have a trim ring integral to the burner top.
In current CERAN.RTM. cooktops, a stamping is used to hold the glass ceramic cooktop. In certain types, a separate trim ring holds the glass against a burner box. Further, the heating elements must also be supported against the glass, but by separate